The Clinton & Kalamazoo Canal

When Michigan became a state on January 26, 1837, it
was a land of vast forests and marshland which made travel
to the interior extremely difficult. In order to help the
movement of new settler's inland, the state legislature passed
the Internal Improvement Act, which provided for three
railroads and two canals.

The most ambitious of these improvements was a canal
216 miles long from Mount Clemens to a now extinct village
named Singapore at Lake Michigan. Approval of the canal
construction was popular because many who came to
Michigan traveled by way of the newly completed Erie Canal
and understood the advantages of canal travel. Clinton
Township and the Clinton River were, in fact named after
Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York who was
instrumental in the construction of the Erie Canal.

On July 20, 1838, Michigan's first Governor, Stephen
T. Mason, came to Mount Clemens and dedicated the
beginning of the canal. The actual start and first sections
were completed in Clinton Township

Thousands of men, mostly Irish immigrants, worked
with pick and shovel to dig the canal, which was about 50
feet wide with locks to raise and lower the boats as the
elevations changed. Work progressed as far as the city of
Rochester but had to be abandoned several times because
money was becoming increasingly difficult to raise. Finally,
there was no more money and the state dropped any further
new work on the canal in 1845.

One boat the "Uncle Peter" did travel the canal for two
years between Utica and the village of Frederick, the eastern
terminus. Frederick was located just across the Clinton River
from Canal Park.

For many years, the canal water was used to supply
power for several mills in Frederick, Utica and Rochester.

Many of the canal workers eventually, settled in this
area when they were given land grants in lieu of wages owed
to them.

Remains of a lock were found in Canal Park and in
September of 2004 another lock was uncovered while a new storm
sewer line was being dug for a new strip mall. The lock was
located along Canal Road just east of Hayes. This lock was
dug up and the beams were taken to a landfill. The Clinton
Township Historical Commission was able to save some of
the unearthed items.